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INAUGURAL ADDRESS 

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DELIVERED BY THE 



REV, STEPHEN OklN, 



PRESIDENT OF 



RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE, 



ON THE OCCASION OF HXS 



asra)^®sa®sr asrs© <s>®®a©s* 



5th March, 1834. 



RICHMOND: 

Printed by Nesbitt & Walker, Gary Street. 

1834. 



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Published by request of the Board of Trustees* 



ADDRESS. 



In obedience to a custom made respectable by many high 
examples, I avail myself of the present occasion when I am 
about to enter upon the responsible duties to which I have 
been called by the guardians of this institution, to express my 
sentiments upon some of the topics embraced in the great 
subject of Collegiate education. Of education itself in its ge- 
neral and broad signification, comprehending all the phy- 
sical, intellectual and moral training by which a human be- 
ing is prepared, during the years of childhood and youth, 
for the duties and events of subsequent life, I do not propose 
to speak. Its momentous importance, and its manifold re- 
lations to the improvement and happiness of our race, could 
not fail to engage the attention of the wisest men of every 
civilized age and nation, and the profound research and pa- 
tient experiments of former metaphysicians and teachers have 
left nothing valuable to be gained in the field of original en- 
quiry; not even the humble distinction of obtaining for far 
miliar truths a fresh and cordial welcome, by the graceful 
blandishments of more polished language or more attractive 
illustration. But if we are denied all participation in the re^ 
nown of discovery, the highest intellectual powers may find 
ample and worthy employment in explaining the principles 
which our predecessors have so firmly established ; in reduc- 
ing to practice the lessons they have inculcated ; in modify- 
ing to the ever varying aspects and exigencies of human so- 
ciety the systems which they have so skilfully elaborated ; 
in supplying such deficiencies as the lapse of centuries has de- 
tected or produced, and in making such improvements as the 
accumulated experience of past generations or the increasing 
wants of the present may demand. 

We do no injustice to those who have filled the busy 
scenes of life before us, when we affirm that the present time 



is signalized above any other period in the history of the 
world, by vigorous and comprehensive efforts to elevate the 
intellectual condition of our species. A lively interest is felt 
upon this subject throughout nearly all the christian nations 
of Europe and America, and whilst the means of elementa- 
ry and liberal instruction are enjoyed to an extent unknown 
to Greece and Rome, in the proudest days of their literary 
greatness, we have good reason to indulge in the most cheer- 
ing anticipations of future improvement. All the political 
changes which have occurred in the old and the new world, 
though followed by occasional disasters, have resulted in rais- 
ing large masses of the people to consideration and power ; 
and the most despotic rulers cannot and dare not withold 
from their subjects the blessings of education, when once they 
are endowed with the immunities of freemen. 

The general diffusion of knowledge, whether produced by 
the progress of liberty or by other causes, leads by sure and 
obvious tendencies to the establishment and support of the 
higher seminaries of learning. It multiplies the aspirants for 
literary distinction and the rewards and employments of lite- 
rary men. It discovers latent genius and slumbering ambi- 
tion and directs them to Colleges and Universities, as the pro- 
per field for their cultivation and display. Common educa- 
tion produces intellectual tastes and wants in a community, 
and these must be supplied by the labours of educated 
men. The works of able writers are appreciated and their ef- 
forts rewarded. The periodical press is rescued from the 
control of the incompetent, and accomplished scholars are 
required to preside over the current literature of the day. — 
Well instructed teachers are encouraged, and a demand is 
created for cultivated professional talent. 

The great improvements which have been made in the me- 
chanical arts, and in some of the physical sciences, are exert- 
ing an influence upon the cause of liberal education not less 
salutary and encouraging than that which emanates from the 
progress of popular instruction* The subjection of some of the 
most efficient agents of nature to human control and to the 



purposes of civilized life, has increased the powers and multi- 
plied the resources of man to an incalculable extent. The slow 
and vexatious processes of manufacturing industry, which 
were carried on by the incessant toil of thousands of intelligent 
beings, are superseded by the invention of machinery. New 
facilitiesof transport and intercourse have doubled the rewards 
of labor and carried competence and affluence to the most in- 
terior and remote portions of the commercial world. These 
great improvements, whilst they have augmented the physical 
comforts of a large portion of the human family, beyond the 
most sanguine hopes of the most visionary philanthropist, are 
extending a benignant patronage to literature and science. 
Multitudes, relieved from the necessity of toiling for subsis- 
tence, devote their energies to ennobling intellectual pursuits. 
The spirit of liberality keeps pace with the diffusion of wealth, 
and new institutions of learning reared and endowed by pri- 
vate munificence, animate the hopes and foster the genius 
of an aspiring generation. Mechanical skill and commer- 
cial enterprise are thus made subsidiary to intellectual im- 
provement. The spinning jenny and the steam engine con- 
stitute the richest endowments of our Schools and Colleges 
and Arkwright and Watt are the true Maecenases of the age. 
The friends of education, it will be perceived, do not derive 
their confidence of success from any transient excitement, 
but from the deep and living sources of individual and na- 
tional prosperity, and it behooves the men who form the cha- 
racter and control the destinies of those literary institutions 
which are every where rising up to meet the increasing de- 
mand for liberal instruction, to be mindful of the sacred trust 
which they exercise for their cotemporaries and for posteri- 
ty. The duties which they are called to perform are render- 
ed peculiarly difficult by the circumstances of the times. A 
spirit of daring innovation is abroad. Questions which have 
longbeen regarded as settled are. started afresh, and systems, 
which have stood the test of centuries, are condemned as false 
in their principles or inefficient in their operation. Now 
whilst we admit that the cause of education may be as deep- 



6 

ly injured by a stubborn adherence to ancient usages, in 
contempt of all improvement, as by a restless and an ambi- 
tious propensity to change, it may be safely affirmed that to a 
new institution the latter is the more dangerous error. In 
entering upon the honorable career of competition and use- 
fulness with older establishments, it is beset with a strong 
temptation to throw out the lure of some specious pretension, 
or to announce its claim to some valuable discovery in the 
science of teaching, as needful auxiliaries in the unequal 
contest for reputationand patronage. After all duepiaise has 
been bestowed* upon the adventurous and original genius of 
the age, it must still be confessed that the most valuable les- 
sons are those of experience; and that literary institution lays 
the broadest foundation for extensive usefulness and perma- 
nent respectability, which shows a proper deference for the 
wisdom of the past whilst it cautiously but promptly conforms 
its subjects and modes of instruction to the present condition 
of society. The boldest innovators, who deem every thing 
vicious that is old and all that is new an improvement, will 
at least allow us the exercise of a sound discretion, in choos- 
ing between the rival novelties that press upon our accept- 
ance ; and those who are most intent upon revolution would 
probably hesitate to remodel our colleges upon the phrenolo- 
gical hypothesis of Gall and Spurzheim. 

A question of great importance is involved in prescribing 
the studies which should constitute a course of liberal instruc- 
tion. It may be regarded a fundamental principle, that lit- 
tle reference can be had in making the selection to the par- 
ticular employments to which the pupil may be destined on 
the termination of his academic career. The choice of a 
profession is usually and wisely postponed till the progress of 
education and the formation of character have developed the 
intellectual aptitudes and moral qualities by which the pre- 
ference should ever be controlled. If we were even endow- 
ed with a foresight that would enable us to anticipate the 
conclusions of experience and direct the studies of youth with 
immediate and primary reference to the pursuits of manhood, 



all the principles of a sound, mental philosophy would for- 
bid the adoption of a system so erroneous in theory and so 
essentially vicious in its operation. The mind, like the bo- 
dy, has its infancy and its childhood, when its habits are 
unformed and its energies feebly and imperfectly developed ; 
and a plan of early education which aims at special and iso- 
lated objects, is likely to mar the symmetry and disturb the 
harmonious proportions of its faculties, by giving to some an 
undue cultivation to the neglect or injury of the rest. The 
pernicious tendency of professional studies, early commenced 
and exclusively pursued, has long been acknowledged, and 
if the evil will not admit of an adequate remedy, it at least 
should not be aggravated by subjecting the flexible minds of 
youth to a depraving influence which proves too strong for 
the more hardy and unyielding powers of manhood. 

What then is the principle that should guide us in choos- 
ing the studies of a collegiate course? Their tendency to 
enlarge, invigorate and discipline the mind. Their utility in 
relation to the business of life is an important but secondary 
and inferior consideration. 

The Mathematics combine, in a high degree, the various 
attributes which are desirable in academic studies, and they 
are eminently entitled to the place assigned them by common 
consent in every judicious system of liberal education. They 
strengthen the memory and improve the reasoning faculties. 
They habituate the mind to protracted and difficult efforts of 
attention, and to the clear and lively perception of truth, and 
at the same time furnish it with principles and facts of ines- 
timable value in many of the departments of useful industry 
and philosophical research. They enrich the student with 
the highest rewards of application : education and science ; 
mental improvement and useful knowledge. 

The Grecian and Roman Languages have for centuries 
shared with the Mathematics an undisputed pre-eminence 
in the circle of liberal studies, and I can but consider as an 
evil omen the growing scepticism of the times in reference 
to their utility and importance. The antiquity of their claims 



8 

upon our regard makes them but the more obnoxious to the 
prejudices of our practical and reforming age ; yet some de- 
ference is justly due to the unanimous sentiments of former 
generations, and some hesitation may be reasonably indulged 
at rejecting the lights which have cheered the human intel- 
lect in the darkest periods of its history, and guided it in the 
career of its most splendid achievements. It should never 
be forgotten that the language of Greece has been, from the 
days of Homer, a principal instrument in diffusing knowledge 
and civilization over large portions of the globe. The ravages 
of Alexander's wars were speedily repaired by the benignant 
influence of Grecian literature and arts, which, in a single 
century, raised Egypt and Asia to the zenith of their intel- 
lectual glory. The wisest of the Romans acknowledge that 
their country and language were essentially barbarous till the 
influx of Grecian books and scholars, which followed the 
conquest of Macedonia, roused the slumbering genius and 
subdued the ferocity of a warlike but illiterate people. Du- 
ring the dark ages, the remains of classical literature em- 
balmed and preserved whatever of knowledge and refine- 
ment had survived the ruins of the Roman empire, and be- 
came, at a more fortunate era, the true restorers of learning. 

Throughout the whole progress of modern literature from 
its dawn to its present state of maturity and comparative per- 
fection, classical learning has been its safest guide, and its 
most liberal benefactor. With an unalterable constancy it 
has held forth its masterly performances and authoritative 
examples to human observation, to correct the eccentricities 
of genius ; to restrain the aberrations of taste, and to rebuke 
the waywardness of imagination and the extravagancies of 
fashion. Its graceful specimens of eloquence and poetry ; 
of style and sentiment, embody and exemplify the immuta- 
ble laws of composition and of the mind. They constitute 
an unexceptionable standard of good writing, above envy or 
controversy, which acts at once as the inspirer and the coun- 
sellor of genius ; the model and the test of excellence. 

If these considerations are entitled to respect we ought to 



9 

pause before we consent to proscribe the classics even in favor 
of other studies which might be better adapted to some of the 
purposes of education. But those who would discard the an- 
cient languages propose no valuable substitute, and it may 
be safely concluded that none is likely to be found which an 
intelligent and experienced man would be willing to accept. 
But classical learning must not be left to the support of this 
negative argument. Its strongest claim to occupy a conspi- 
cuous place in the circle of liberal studies, is founded upon its 
admirable adaptation to the powers and wants of the youth- 
ful mind. The* learned languages give useful employment 
to the intellectual faculties at a period when they are incom- 
petent to more abstract and severe occupations. They call 
up the attention to such short and easy but repeated efforts 
as are best calculated to correct its wanderings and increase 
its energies. The mind is accustomed to analysis and com- 
parison, and its powers of discrimination are improved by 
frequent exercises in declension, inflexion and derivation, and 
by the constant necessity that is imposed upon it of deciding 
between the claims of rival definitions. The memory is en- 
gaged in the performance of such tasks as are precisely fitted 
for its development, and the judgment and other reasoning 
faculties find ample and invigorating employment in the ap- 
plication of grammatical rules and the investigation of phi- 
lological principles. 

Whilst the classical student secures in an eminent degree, 
the most valuable ends of education in the discipline of his 
intellectual faculties, his labors are amply rewarded by the 
acquisition of valuable knowledge. It is not true, as is often 
asserted, that the classics impart nothing to the mind but a 
dry vocabulary of obsolete words and idioms, utterly useless 
for all the purposes of speech and reason. Language as well 
as mind and matter, has its philosophy, not formed to suit 
particular cases, but applicable, with few modifications, to 
the dialects of all ages and nations. The regularity, the 
copiousness, the elegant refinement, and the profound logic 
of the Greek and Roman tongues give facilities for the in- 
2 



10 

vestigation of these universal laws, unknown to the cieieciive 
and anomolous languages of modern times, and the youth 
who has once thoroughly mastered the difficulties and the 
mysteries of classical literature, has imbibed those unchange- 
able principles of speech and of thought which are alone able 
to guide him on the great occasions in active life, when elo- 
quence and reason exert a controlling influence. 

The value of classical learning, as the means of obtaining 
a critical knowledge of the English language, and of form- 
ing a correct and graceful style of composition, is oftei:f ac- 
knowledged by those who deny it all other praise. As far as 
©ur own language is derived from those of Greece and Rome, 
the connexion is sufficiently intelligible, but the study of the 
ancient tongues facilitates the attainment of excellence in 
speaking and writing by an influence which is less obvious. 
The exercise of translation from the classical writers is the 
happiest and most effectual method ever devised of acquiring a 
critical, extensive and thorough acquaintance with our mother 
tongue. The student is led to a careful examination of all 
the peculiarities, and a thorough trial of all the capabilities of 
the language which is to become the new vehicle of thought. 
He must observe the minutest differences in the import of 
words, and his ingenuity is often tasked to the utmost in se- 
lecting and combining such terms and expressions, from the 
crude and unyielding elements of his native tongue, as may 
dispaly the sentiments of the original, with the precise form 
and coloring which they possessed in a more copious, flexible 
and significant language. Such exercises, often repeated and 
properly directed by a skilful teacher, seldom fail of giving 
to the classical student, together with the more important ad- 
vantages of intellectual discipline and polish, a more valua- 
ble acquaintance with his native tongue than could have 
been obtained in the same period of exclusive devotion to its 
study. 

To the assertion so often repeated that the study of ancient 
literature exerts an irreligious and demoralizing influence 
upon the minds of youth, an objection frequently entitled to 



11 

respect from the motives and character of those who urge it, 
it may be sufficient to offer this passing reply : that the ab- 
surd mythology of the Greek and Roman writers, so far from 
enlisting the affections and winning the belief of young per- 
sons, is usually found to excite their contempt to an extent 
prejudicial to their progress in learning ; that classical scho- 
lars have not been remarkable, above others, for infidel senti- 
ments or immoral lives, and that they who propose to substi- 
tute for the ancient languages a more extensive course of 
mathematical and natural sciences, should enquire if these 
have not, with more frequency and equal justice, been charged 
with a similar tendency. 

The progress of knowledge or the love of novelty may 
produce considerable changes, but it may be confidently anti- 
cipated that the study of classical literature and of the dif- 
ferent branches of pure and mixed Mathematics will con- 
tinue to be regarded of essential and transcendent importance 
in every enlightened system of liberal education. Next to 
these I am inclined to give a place to intellectual philosophy, 
though its claims are not so fully established. The fluctuating 
hypotheses of the metaphysicians, and their ambitious and 
perverse ingenuity have thrown unmerited suspicion upon 
the science. Its great outlines however are distinctly marked. 
Its essential facts and fundamental principles are secured upon 
the legitimate basis of careful observation and patient, com- 
prehensive induction. This study is usually postponed to 
an advanced period in the collegiate term, when the student 
is presumed to possess the indispensable qualifications of a 
critical knowledge of language, some maturity of judgment 
and considerable mental discipline. When aided by all these 
advantages, the task imposed is fully equal to his powers. 
It calls him to the most abstract and profound investigations. 
It familiarizes him with the laws and the phenomena of 
mind, and with[such efforts of subtle analysis and difficult 
combination as are best fitted to enlarge and fill the grasp of 
the highest intellectual capacities. 

The important but secondary consideration of practical 



12 

utility must be allowed to operate more freely in selecting 
subordinate studies. Composition and eloquence are entitled 
to a large share of attention from their connexion with lite- 
rary reputation and professional success ; Moral Philosophy, 
from its relation to human conduct and happiness ; Chemis- 
try and Natural Philosophy, from their important applications 
to the business of life. Some branches of experimental and 
physical science, which are of too much importance to be 
wholly neglected, can be prosecuted only by the aid of such 
instruments and collections as are not usually to be found 
except at the public institutions of learning. This may of- 
ten be a sufficient reason for devoting some portion of time to 
objects which have no peculiar adaptation to the principal 
ends of intellectual education. Circumstances of a more 
transient and local character may give to a study peculiar 
and indisputable claims. The French language is so inter- 
woven with fashionable literature, and has obtained such 
celebrity as the medium of social and national intercourse, 
that an institution of learning would be deemed incomplete 
which made no provision for giving instruction in this 
department. A college designed for the accommodation of 
a country abounding in minerals, might be accused of sup- 
plying the public wants inadequately, if it overlooked geology 
and mineralogy in its prescribed instructions. 

It must never be forgotten, however that the objects of 
human knowledge are infinitely diversified, whilst the powers 
of the human mind are limited, and only a brief portion of 
life can be devoted to education. I am not aware that any 
serious attempt lias been made to prolong the usual colle- 
giate term. Several colleges have unwisely abridged it, and 
the condition of our country, the genius of its political insti- 
tutions and especially our laws of inheritance, all tend to the 
encouragement of that system of education which will most 
speedily send forth the unportioned youth upon the bustling* 
theatre where his fortunes are to be achieved. But whilst 
no addition has been made, or is likely to be made to the 
season allotted to mental cultivation, and whilst the prere- 



1 ° 

lo 

quisites to admission into college remain essentially the same, 
our institutions are annually swelling the catalogue of their 
studies and sending them forth with rival zeal, in the guise 
of new claims upon public confidence and patronage. It is 
time to enquire whether this eager race is a race of improve- 
ment; whether, with the new tasks which have been imposeed 
upon the youthful mind, new methods have been discovered 
to stimulate its industry, to multiply its resources or to elude 
the toils that frequent the paths of learning. These remarks 
have no reference to Universities which profess to give instruc- 
tion in all the branches of knowledge and open their doors 
to professional students as well as to those in literature and 
science. But the excessive multiplication of studies which 
are prescribed as conditions of graduation can, in no con- 
ceivable way, promote the interests of education. When the 
time and capacity of the student are already sufficiently 
tasked, it is manifest that without some miraculous endow- 
ment, he can only learn a new science by neglecting an old 
one. The industry which was profitably directed to a few, 
may be divided amongst a multitude of objects, but it will 
incur the inevitable penalty of fitful and dissipated intellectual 
exertion — superficial attainments and vicious intellectual 
habits. 

In what may be denominated the art of education, general 
principles are of less consequence than the personal qualities 
of the instructor. Learning, diligence, aptness to teach, en- 
thusiasm in the pursuit of science, with the happy talent of 
imparting it to others, when guided and sustained by a con- 
scientious regard for the moral bearing and responsibilities of 
his office, constitute a rare assemblage of advantages which 
leaves nothing to be desired in the character and qualifica- 
tions of a teacher. The subject of lectures, however, though 
of secondary interest is worthy of some attention. The only 
question with which we have at present any concern is the 
adaptation of this method of instruction to the condition of 
our colleges, where boys are admitted at fourteen or fifteen 
years of age, and are usually graduated before their majority, 



14 

No argument is necessary to show that modes of communi- 
cating knowledge, which have been found useful in schools 
of medicine or theology, where the student has arrived at the 
age of manhood and is presumed to have passed through a 
preparatory course of education, may yet be wholly inappli- 
cable to the very different circumstances of those who fre- 
quent our literary institutions. Here, at least, lecturing can 
never be a substitute for frequent recitations from well digested 
text books. These introduce the teacher to an intimate ac- 
quaintance with the intellectual peculiarities of his pupils, 
and enable him to accommodate his instructions to the wants 
of every mind. Opportunity is given for inculcation, and 
for ascertaining and removing difficulties. Obscure subjects 
may be made clear by new and more appropriate illustration, 
and what is defective or unsatisfactory may be supplied by 
additional arguments. The energies of the student are 
roused and his industry stimulated. He can recur again 
and again to his text book, to perfect the views which, through 
oversight or haste, were erroneous or superficial. None of 
these advantages belong to the opposite system. No refer- 
ence can be had by the lecturer to diversity of capacity and 
knowledge. No opportunity is given for inquiries or expla- 
nations. If a sentiment is lost through defective utterance, 
or wandering attention, or dull perception, it is lost irrecove- 
rably. 

A method of teaching which is liable to these objections 
must be essentially unfit for the ordinary purposes of colle- 
giate instruction. Occasionally, however, and to a limited 
extent, it may be resorted to with advantage. Human know- 
ledge is never stationary, and in the progress of discovery 
and opinion the text books of every science become defective 
or obsolete. These deficiencies must be supplied by the living 
teacher whose instructions should always keep pace with im- 
provement. In those branches of learning which are illus- 
trated by experiments, the explanations of the professor may 
sometimes, conveniently assume the form of written lectures. 
Whatever may be the subject of investigation, whether phi- 



15 

Iosophy, classical literature or morals, the most able teacher 
will often have occasion for all his erudition and eloquence 
in supplying the omissions and imperfections of text books ; 
in solving difficulties ; in critical exegesis, and in the various 
efforts which genius or experience may suggest for rendering 
a recitation profitable or interesting. 

Instruction by lectures has long been preferred in the Uni- 
versities of Scotland. In those of England, the opposite 
method has generally prevailed. If, in the absence of many 
of the facts which could guide us to a satisfactory settlement 
of the question, we might venture to form an opinion of the 
comparative operation of these two modes of teaching, from 
the history of the Universities and of the literature of these 
two countries for the last century, we should be led to the 
unexpected but not improbable conclusion, that the lecture 
system is more favorable to the improvement of the professor 
and the reputation of the University, whilst the opposite me- 
thod has been more productive of thorough and accomplished 
scholars. 

In porportion as virtue is more valuable than knowledge, 
pure and enlightened morality will be regarded by every con- 
siderate father the highest recommendation of a literary in- 
stitution. The youth is withdrawn from the salutary re- 
straints of parental influence and authority and committed 
to other guardians, at a time of life most decisive of his pros- 
pects and destinies. The period devoted to education usually 
impresses its own character upon all his future history. Vi- 
gilant supervision, employment, and seclusion from all facili- 
ties and temptations to vice, are the ordinary and essential 
securities which every institution of learning is bound to 
provide for the sacred interests which are committed to its 
charge. But safeguards and negative provisions are not suf- 
ficient. The tendencies of our nature are retrograde, and 
they call for the interposition of positive remedial influences. 
The most perfect human society speedily degenerates, if the 
active agencies which were employed in its elevation are once 
withdrawal or suspended. What then can be expected of 



16 

inexperienced youth, sent forth from the pure atmosphere of 
domestic piety, and left to the single support of its own un- 
tested and unsettled principles, in the midst of circumstances 
which often prove fatal to the most practiced virtue ! I frankly 
confess that I see no safety but in the preachingbf the cross, 
and in a clear and unfaltering exhibition of the doctrines and 
sanctions of Christianity. The beauty and excellence of 
virtue are excusable topics, though they must ever be inef- 
ficient motives, with those who reject the authority of reve- 
lation ; but in a christian land, morality divorced from religion 
is the emptiest of all the empty names by which a deceitful 
philosophy has blinded and corrupted the world. I venture 
to affirm, that this generation has not given birth to another 
absurdity so monstrous as that which would exclude from 
our seminaries of learning the open and vigorous inculcation 
of the religious faith which is acknowledged by our whole 
population, and which pervades every one of our free insti- 
tutions. Our governors and legislators, and all the deposita- 
ries of honor and trust are prohibited from exercising their 
humblest functions till they have pledged their fidelity to the 
country upon the holy gospels. The most inconsiderable 
pecuniary interest is regarded too sacred to be entrusted to 
the most upright judge or juror, or to the most unsuspected 
witness, till their integrity has been fortified by an appeal to 
the high sanctions of Christianity. Even the exercise of 
the elective franchize is usually suspended upon the same con- 
dition. The interesting moralities of the domestic relations ; 
the laws of marriage and divorce ; the mutual obligations of 
parents and children, are all borrowed from the christian scrip- 
tures. The fears of the vicious and the hopes of the upright ; 
the profane ribaldry of the profligate, no less than the hum- 
ble thanksgiving of the morning and evening sacrifice, do 
homage to the gospel as the religion of the American people. 
Our eloquence and our poetry ; our periodical and popular 
literature in all their varieties ; the novel, the tale, the ballad, 
the play, all make their appeal to the deep sentiments of re- 
ligion that pervade the popular bosom. Christianity is our 



17 

birthright. It is the richest inheritance bequeathed us by 
our noble fathers. It is mingled in our hearts with all the 
fountains of sentiment and of faith. And are the guardians 
of public education alone " halting between two opinions?" 
Do they think that in fact, and for practical purposes, the 
truth of Christianity is still a debateable question ? Is it still 
a question whether the generations yet to rise up and occupy 
the wide domains of this great empire ; to be the representa- 
tives of our name, our freedom and our glory, before the na- 
tions of the earth, shall be a christian or an. infidel people ? 
Can wise and practical men who are engaged in rearing up a 
temple of learning to form the character and destinies of 
their posterity, for a moment hesitate to make " Jesus Christ 
the chief corner stone V 

An experiment is about to be made upon a scale of extent 
and magnificence, that must give to its lessons the most 
imposing and decisive character. An American citizen has 
bequeathed his name and the splendid fruits of his industry, 
to a college for instructing the youth of a christian metropo- 
lis, from which Christianity, in all its ordinances and visible 
exhibitions, is excluded by a fundamental law. We need 
not anticipate the awards of the future, nor permit gloomy 
apprehensions to mingle with our admiration of the most 
signal act of individual liberality recorded in history. What- 
ever of evil or of good may accrue to the cause of learning 
from this great enterprise, we may at least hope, that it will 
settle finally, for this whole country, and for posterity, what 
seems still to be regarded a doubtful question ; whether Chris- 
tianity is a spontaneous production of the human passions ; 
and whether pure morality can flourish in an infidel soil. 
Of those who are able to look upon this novel attempt, as the 
dawning triumph of just and liberal principles, it may rea- 
sonably be demanded that they wait for the result with pa- 
tience. They must not indulge in a frivolous ambition to 
mulitply these experiments. The souls of men are in the 
crucible, and humanity will grudge a wasteful consumption. 

In institutions of learning which are endowed by the State ? 
3 



18 

an alternative is presented of considerable and acknowledged 
difficulty, in giving them such an organization as shall se- 
cure an efficient moral influence. The entire control must 
be given to a single religious sect, to the prejudice of all 
others, or by combining in the board of instruction the mem- 
bers of different churches, some hazard is incurred from rival 
interests and discordant counsels. In times when the prin- 
ciples of religious liberty were less understood, or less respect- 
ed than at present, it was customary to commit the entire 
interest of education to the religious denomination most in 
favor with the public authorities ; and the charters of several 
of our Colleges contain provisions requiring the President or 
other officers to be of a particular faith. This is a manifest 
violation of the principles of a free government ; but the in- 
justice is less in proportion as the religious opinions of a peo- 
ple approach uniformity, and as the preference is given to the 
most numerous sect. Exemption from the danger of possi- 
ble collisions is not however, a boon of sufficient value, to be 
purchased by the smallest sacrifice of political rights or reli- 
gious liberty ; and a legislator or a trustee, who aids any reli- 
gious denomination in gaining an ascendancy in the public 
institutions of learning, beyond the just proportions of its 
numbers and of its contributions to the public treasury, is un- 
faithful to the dearest interests of the people and to the con- 
stitution. 

This monopoly of education, wdiether obtained by legal 
enactments, by management or accident, is a thousand 
times more odious than a system of tythes. It operates as a 
direct bounty for the encouragement of the favored church, 
and tends to a ruinous corruption of Christianity. By a si- 
lent but unerring influence, it consigns the excluded sects to 
ignorance and obscurity, and, under the specious forms of li- 
berty and equality, raises up at their expense, and upon their 
ruin, an intellectual and spiritual aristocracy. Dear as the 
interests of education are, the interests of freedom are dearer ; 
and those who are the appointed guardians of our State in- 
stitutions ore bound by the most sacred obligations, to main- 
tai ^ie privileges of all the churches and all the people. — 



19 

The clangers of dissension in a mixed faculty, are doubtless 
exaggerated. Men who differ in their religious opinions, act 
together in other departments of life without inconvenience. 
An equitable adjustment of office and influence in colleges 
would call into operation new principles, and create new in- 
ducements to forbearance and fidelity. A sense of honor ; 
moral obligation, and a feeling of security, would constitute 
motives to harmony and usefulness, far more powerful than 
exclusive privileges and unjust proscriptions. Immunities, 
however unequal or unmerited, which are secured by legal 
enactments, should not be disturbed ; but it seems reasonable 
and just, that the State should extend its munificence to thoa 
portions of its citizens who have suffered by partial legisla- 
tion, and aid them in their efforts to assert their unalienable 
rights and to secure for their children, the inestimable bless- 
ings of a liberal and virtuous education. 

These general principles, which I have deemed worthy of 
discussion in reference to those literary institutions which are 
supported by public funds, have a modified application to 
such as have been endowed by individual bounty. No com- 
plaint is likely to arise against the religious influence and as- 
pects of a college which is organized and controlled by the 
immediate agency of its founders and its patrons. No con- 
test for denominational ascendency can happen in the man- 
agement of an interest which has, from the first, been avow- 
edly identified with the exertions and liberality of a single 
church. It would, however, betray great ignorance of the 
ordinary principles of human action, to infer from this indis- 
putable claim of supremacy, and this distinct and frank 
avowal of religious character, that such an institution is pecu- 
liarly liable to the operation of narrow and sectarian views. 
On the contrary, those who exercise none but unquestionable 
rights, and provoke neither jealousy nor opposition by ar- 
rogant assumptions, are left in quiet possession of the field, and 
soon lose the habit and the desire of controversy. It is in the 
collision of rival claims and interests, that the shades of differ- 
ence which constitute lines of demarcation between the 
churches of the land, cover the whole field of vision; and 



20 

shut out from the view the important duties and principles of 
our common Christianity. When no disturbing cause exists 
to divert the sentiments and the ministrations of religion from 
their natural channel, the minute and vexatious disputations 
of polemic theology are seldom heard. The great doctrines 
of the cross become the burthen of every appeal, and the pure 
moralities of the gospel are inculcated by opposing sects, with 
a zeal and unanimity that might shame and reclaim the bi- 
got. Neither a controversial nor a proselyting spirit is indi- 
ginous to the peaceful abodes of ardent and enlightened pie- 
ty. Little is gained, whilst much is often lost, by the dis- 
ruption of those sacred ties which bind the son to the church 
of his pious Father. The stable foundations of religious edu- 
cation and hereditary faith are loosened. The warm sym- 
pathies of domestic piety are repressed, and he is grafted into 
a strange vine, destined too often to wither and die. 

The obvious and intelligible motives of interest combine 
with the sentiments of piety, in giving to the parent the 
most ample securities against an improper interference with 
the religious faith of his son. Institutions whose only re- 
sources are public confidence and patronage, are not likely, 
rashly to alienate a friend or provoke an enemy. 

The internal discipline of a college is a subject of great 
practical importance, as well as of great delicacy and difficul- 
ty. The regulations of society which fix the period of mi- 
nority, are formed upon the constitution of nature, and the 
dictates of experience. The controlling authority of the pa- 
rent is maintained, till the formation of proper habits, and 
some maturity of judgment, are presumed to have fitted the 
child for subjection to the positive institutions of society and 
the general restraints of moral obligation. In our places of 
learning, this period is usually anticipated, and this salutary 
arrangement disturbed. The youth passes from a govern- 
ment of authority and influence, to a government of laws, 
before he is prepared to appreciate the value and the reason 
of the restrictions that are imposed upon him, or to respect 
their sanctions. Dislike and contempt for regulations deemed 
frivolous or arbitrary ; reckless indifference to consequences, 



21 

and practiced ingenuity in evading the penalty, whilst it 
violates the spirit of the law, are the too common results of 
this premature and unnatural substitution of positive enact- 
ments, for that discretionary power with which God has in- 
vested the parent. The evil is one of portentous magnitude, 
but it is not easy, perhaps not possible to prescribe a remedy. 
Much will unquestionably depend upon a proper selection of 
teachers. It may be regarded a settled maxim, not liable to 
more exceptions than other general rules, that the necessity 
of resorting to punishments will be rare, in proportion as the 
faculty possess that respectability and weight of character 
which result from high talents, from virtue, and fidelity in 
the discharge of duty. In a government of influence and 
affection, no less than in a government of force, laws are si- 
lent and inoperative. Unyielding firmness, and, as far as 
possible, uniformity in the administration of discipline, are 
more effectual than severe penalties. Decision and courage 
are always respectable, and established usage is often more 
venerated than justice and reason. 

These, it will be readily admitted, are but palliatives of an 
evil which is inherent in the prevailing systems of college 
discipline. It is worthy of an inquiry, perhaps of an expe- 
riment, whether a more radical improvement may not be at- 
tained, by a nearer approximation to that parental discipline 
which nature has prescribed for the government of youth. 
The college code might be limited to those prudential regu- 
lations which are necessary to facilitate the ordinary opera- 
tions of study and instruction, and to a few flagrant crimes 
which are so unequivocal in their tendencies or positive guilt, 
as to disqualify the offender for the society and privileges of 
the institution. Over minor offences, and over the general 
police of the college, there might be given to the faculty, 
under proper restrictions, a broad and general discretion, to 
supercede the multitude of vexatious enactments which uni- 
formly operate as provocatives to transgression. Such a sys- 
tem would speedily degenerate into turbulence or tyranny, 
under a weak or unprincipled administration. The utmost 
circumspection would be requisite in appointing the officers 



^ 22 

of instruction, and upon them would be imposed additional 
and painful responsibilities. But no labors or difficulties 
should be refused which promise a remedy, or even an 
alleviation, of a great and increasing evil. 

The frequent arraignment of students upon charges of 
petty delinquency, is a fruitful source of corruption which 
would be, at least, partially removed by absolving them from 
allegiance to the chapter of crimes and punishments, and 
holding them accountable for their conduct upon the com- 
mon obligations of morality and duty. Such occasions often 
present temptations to prevarication and falsehood, too strong 
to be resisted by ordinary minds, and a trial before the faculty 
has often produced a ruinous prostration of self-respect and 
all honorable feeling. The same objection, in a higher de- 
gree, exists against that most unreasonable custom which 
denies to a student, who has been dismissed for misconduct, 
admission into any other institution. This needless severity 
adds nothing to the efficacy of punishment, whilst it de- 
stroys the strongest motives to reformation. It may be advi- 
sable to dismiss a student, for an offence or a course of con- 
duct, which indicates no very deep or incurable depravity. 
Under more favorable circumstances, and with more fortu- 
nate associations, he may become virtuous and respectable. 
It might be dangerous for a college to open its doors to those 
who, by common consent, are excluded from the privileges 
of education; but the highest considerations of humanity and 
justice require, that none should be consigned to disgrace and 
perpetual disability, who are not already lost to virtue and to 
hope. A private intimation to the parent, to withdraw an 
idle or a profligate son, would secure the ends of discipline 
without the infliction of injustice or ignominy. 

Of the whole number of those who enter college, it is be- 
lieved that less than half remain to complete their educa- 
tion. The majority are arrested in their career of improve- 
ment by idle or vicious habits ; by extravagance and discon- 
tent, and sometimes, by unwise laws and mal-ad ministration. 
This result of the prevailing systems of public instruction, 
is truly appalling. That a subject so full of thrilling interest, 



23 

has received so little attention, in this age of inquiry and bold 
innovation, is perhaps to be ascribed to its intrinsic difficul- 
ties. No place, however, can be given to despondency in a 
great practical movement for the virtue and happiness of 
mankind ; and difficulties only present stronger motives for 
persevering exertion, to those who are entrusted with the 
education of youth. 

Co-operation with the administration of college discipline 
on the part of parents, would remove some of the sources of 
vice and profligacy. No sumptuary regulations can be 
enforced to any good effect, without their aid, and all expe- 
rience shows that simplicity in dress and strict economy in 
expenditures of money, are intimately connected with in- 
dustry, sobriety and the other virtues of a student. The 
youth who is improvidently supplied with the means of ac- 
quiring an easy superiority over his associates, by ostenta- 
tious liberality and exterior decorations, is not likely to pur- 
sue, with much eagerness, the more slow and laborious dis- 
tinction conferred by eminent literary acquirements. In 
some of our institutions of learning, this subject has been 
regarded of such vital importance, that the dress of the 
student is prescribed and his expenses regulated by law. I 
am not well informed what success has followed the adoption 
of these measures ; but there are so many ways by which 
such restrictions may be eluded by youthful ingenuity, when 
aided by the indulgence of the parent, that their efficacy 
seems to be wholly dependent upon his concurrence. If 
experience is found to confirm this probable conclusion, it 
will be better to leave the whole matter to the parents' discre- 
tion, and thus avoid another occasion of exercising the 
youthful mind in artifice and evasion. 

The connexion of manual labor with study, which pro- 
mises more auspicious results than any improvement in edu- 
cation since the days of Raikes, will afford a safeguard 
against some of the depraving influences that operate in our 
institutions of learning. The substitution of manly and 
useful employments for the frivolous and often corrupting 
amusements which usually occupy the hours of relaxation 



24 

from study, will tend to correct the exuberance of boyish 
feeling, and to impart a soberness of mind and habits, every 
way friendly to good morals and intellectual improvement. 
Habitual and vigorous participation in the common pursuits 
of mankind, will prevent the false views and sickly sensibili- 
ties which are nourished by studious or indolent seclusion, 
and keep alive a proper sympathy for the homely and prac- 
tical realities of life, which are never contemned without 
great danger to virtue and happiness. 

Time and experience may modify my views upon this in- 
teresting subject, but I confess that I look to the general in- 
troduction of manual labor, for a great and salutary reforma- 
tion in the morals and government of our schools of learning. 
The obvious and acknowledged advantages of this system 
have already secured its adoption by many respectable colle- 
ges and academies. It promotes health and a sound constitu- 
tion, by regular and vigorous exercise. It imparts habits of 
industry and a knowledge of the useful aits, and diminishes 
the expenses of education. These objects are of high and 
general importance, but they possess a peculiar interest, when 
considered in reference to the domestic institutions of the 
southern states. No part of the world is more favorable to 
the full development of the physical constitution. Indolence 
and effeminacy cannot be the vices of our pure and invigo- 
rating climate, nor are our people insensible to the value of 
industry and its attendant blessings. The greatest difficulty 
is, however, experienced in training up our youth to habits so 
essential to their virtue and happiness. If they mingle with 
the blacks in the labors of the field, it is at the risque of in- 
jury to both manners and morals, and under circumstances 
usually corrupting to both parties. Many judicious and con- 
scientious parents prefer the alternative of idleness and ex- 
posure to such temptations and amusements as chance may 
offer or inclination solicit. Under the influence of such ex- 
amples, labor becomes disreputable in the estimation of the 
young, and parents are often deterred from sending their sons 
to public institutions of learning, from a well grounded fear 
that they may acquire habits and feelings which will diV 



25 

qualify them for engaging, with satisfaction, in those agricul- 
tural or mechanical pursuits to which they are destined. To 
both of these great evils, the manual labor system proposes 
an efficient remedy. The sons of the rich are accustomed 
to healthful and virtuous industry, without hazard to their 
morals. The sons of the poor are trained up in valuable 
knowledge, without learning to contemn the labors of the 
field or the workshop. 

There is another aspect of this subject which gives it pe- 
culiar claims upon our attention. Liberal education is com- 
paratively dear in the southern states, and its benefits are 
almost wholly confined to the sons of our more opulent citi- 
zens. In other parts of the country, where labor is honora- 
ble and profitable and education cheap, many poor young 
men defray the whole expense of a collegiate course, by their 
own industry. Such examples, if they ever occur, are very 
rare in the slave holding states. The popular mind is not 
excited to action by the strong stimulus of thorough elemen- 
tary instruction, and if the impulses of an ennobling ambi- 
tion are felt by the aspiring but unportioned youth, they are 
often repressed by the appalling difficulties that throng his 
way to knowledge and distinction. An improvement in our 
literary institutions, such as the manual labor system propo- 
ses, by which the enterprising and the resolute may be ena- 
bled to educate themselves, offers the readiest and the best, 
and probably, the only means of intellectual culture and 
moral elevation to the most important, because the most nu- 
merous class of society — a class to which the community 
must chiefly look for competent teachers, and the church for 
able ministers. 

I offer no apology for giving to the discussion of this sub- 
ject a brief portion of the time allotted to the present occasion. 
It is intimately connected with the vital interests of educa- 
tion, and with the brightest hopes of the world, and it can 
never be too earnestly pressed upon the consideration of those 
who are providing the means of instruction for the rising 
generation. Religion and patriotism must concur in giving 
4 



26 

the preference to that system of education which extends its 
full blessings to the largest portion of the people, and calls 
forth from the sober ranks of laborious industry, the greatest 
number of hardy auxiliaries for the various enterprizes of 
philanthropy and piety. A literary institution, to meet the 
Wants and the claims of the age, should reduce the charges 
of education to the lowest possible amount. It should enjoin 
habits of strict economy by all the weight of influence, and 
if practicable, of authority. It should establish ci department 
for manual labor, where indigent young men may defray, at 
least, a part of their expenses by their own exertions. If, in 
addition to these regulations, a provision should be made like 
that which has been adopted by the Wesleyan University, 
giving to any wlio may offer sufficient security for the ulti- 
mate payment of principal and interest, a credit for the col- 
lege charges till one or two years after their graduation, no- 
thing would be wanting to the perfection of a charity, the 
noblest in its objects and the most beneficient in its tenden- 
cies. 

I am happy to know, that the general principle, upon 
which these suggestions are founded, has been fully recog- 
nized by the Trustees of Randolph-Macon College. They 
have wisely prescribed a thorough and extensive course of 
study, for those who aspire to the honors of graduation. At 
the same time, they freely admit to the several departments 
of instruction such persons as are led by pecuniary circum- 
stances, by age or inclination, to prefer more partial or more 
specific objects of inquiry. They offer every facility for ac- 
quiring a liberal education, on terms accommodated to the 
means of a large portion of the community, whose sons 
have hitherto been excluded from the benefits of collegiate 
instruction. It was indeed to be expected, that an institution 
which had its origin in the public spirit and pious liberality 
of the people, would be peculiarly adapted to their circum- 
stances and wants. If, in its future progress, experience 
shall suggest the necessity of more ample provisions, it 
cannot be doubted that the board will faithfully redeem the 
pledge which they have already given, and employ all their 



m 

resources to extend to the poor as well as the rich, the full 
advantages of this noble enterprize. 

It becomes the religious denomination, under whose au- 
spices this youthful seminary has speedily risen to vigor and 
usefulness, to prosecute its benevolent objects, with the most 
zealous perseverance. We have been called to engage in 
the business of education, by omens of no doubtful import, 
and it rests upon us, with all the imperative urgency of a 
christian obligation. We have come tardily to the work, 
and it the more behooves us to prosecute it with a diligent 
and vigorous hand. In our burning zeal to propagate the 
gospel, we seem to have overlooked minor interests. By the 
blessing of God, we have pressed into every open door, and 
planted our doctrines and churches in every neighborhood, 
throughout the entire Union. Along the whole unmeasured 
length of frontier which skirts this vast Republic, our banner 
waves in the van of emigration, and we have even raised the 
trophies of tile cross beyond the remotest limits of civiliza- 
tion. In the midst of these cheering successes, w T e are sud- 
denly roused as from a long reverie, to a sense of new and 
appalling responsibilities. The children of the four millions 
of people who attend upon the ministrations of our church, 
call upon us for the means of education. Surely I do not 
misinterpret the signs of the times, when I say the church 
will respond to this affecting appeal. She owes it to her 
character ; to her interest ; to self-preservation. She owes it 
to the land which has yielded her so plenteous a harvest, and 
to the people who have greeted her with so cordial a wel- 
come. She owes it to our republican institutions, aiid above 
all, to the immortal destinies which God has committed to 
her care. The church will do her duty. The sacred obli- 
gation of engaging in the work of education is felt and ac- 
knowledged. The spirit of liberality is increasing, and the 
most unequivocal evidence is given of a great revolution in 
public sentiment upon this subject. Besides a nunVoer of 
academies established upon an extensive and libera J scale, 
four colleges are already successfully engaged in I'Jiffusin^ 
the blessings of education under the patronage ajr^Jrtuntvol 



/ 




28 029- g^rr™ 

of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Two more are expected 
shortly to go into operation under flattering prospects. These 
institutions are the offspring of individual bounty. 

The Virginia Conference, if not the first to engage in this 
good work, has emulated the example of her younger sis- 
ters of the west, with a zeal and liberality worthy of her 
character and of the cause. The first fruits of her enlight- 
ened and pious exertions are now before us. A commodious 
and splendid edifice adapted to all the purposes of collegiate 
instruction ; a good collection of minerals ; a select and in- 
creasing library ; competent and experienced professors who 
already enjoy the confidence of the public, and nearly one 
hundred pupils, assembled from four or five different states, 
in the halls of science, bear testimony to the vigorous infancy 
and favorable prospects of an institution which was opened 
but a little more than a year ago. In the mean time, new 
friends are rising up to promote and share its prosperity. 
The South Carolina and Georgia Conferences, have each 
resolved to endow a professorship for the benefit of this Col- 
lege, and to establish, within their limits, preparatory schools, 
upon the manual labor plan. The work of raising funds 
has: been committed to intelligent and efficient agents, and 
the appeal is made to a liberal people, who know and appre- 
ciate the value of education. 

These are all encouraging circumstances. But in coming, 
as I do upon the present occasion, to dedicate my humble 
powers to tin's enterprize of philanthropy and religion, I de- 
live my most cheering hopes of success from another source. 
I derive them .from a firm and cherished confidence, that this 
institution will five and flourish in the prayers of the righteous. 
The preachers of the gospel will be its advocates, and through- 
out the wide field of their labors, its interests will be remem- 
bere d in the intercessions of the congregation. They will 
be borne to the throne of grace on humble and contrite hearts, 
in thVs devotions of the family and the closet. God, who 
hearetn prayer, will send his spirit to guide the teachers and 
ihe pup ils. 



